Improved apparatus for concentrating ores and minerals



s. R. Keen/1. l Apparatus for concentrating Ores and Minerals.`

No. 80,7 47. Patented Aug. 4. 1868.

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N. Pneus. nm-umagnpher. wasningw". n cA To all whom t may concer-n:

' known as Kroms ore-separator, having the imforremoval by suitable means, as thus passed 'rus FFCE.

s. a. Knomor New YORK, N. Y.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 8034*?, dated August 4, 1868.

Beit known that l, S. RKROM, of the city, county,I and State ot' New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Gre Goncentrators or Separators, or' beds thereof, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being' had to the accom panying drawing, forming vpart of this specification, and in whichy Figure IH represents a transverse section of an ore separatingand concentrating machine,

proved ore-bed herein describedapplied to it. Fig. IV is a similar view of the same machine, showing a modification of said bed. Fig. Vis a view in perspective, on a larger scale, of the improved ore-bed according to one of its forms of construction. Fig. VI is a sectional elevation of the same, taken lengthwise of one of the tubes ot which it is composed; Figs. Vil and VIH, sectional views vor elevations at right angles to each other and Fig. IX a similar section to Fig. VII of the ore-bed under two different modifications of it. y

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parte.

My in vention consists in an ore-bed composed of tubes constructed and arranged to admit ot' the passage within and through, or out of them, of a current or currents of air or water in such manner as that said air or water in escaping therefrom will meet in the center, or cross the opening or openings in the bed through which the ore, or certain grades of it, descend Vor pass in being separated; also, said invention further consists in an ore-bed made up of tubes or hollow bars of reticulated character, for the passage of air or water through them, and made eitherof an open or closed character at their bottoms. By this my improvement, which relates to that description ot' ore-bed that admits of the heavy particles of ore falling through the opening or openings in the bed,

or separated a free action ot' air or water is secured on the ore lying on the bed, and at the same time an unrestricted and convenient escape for the concentrated or rich ore established also, whereby a shorter bed-travel for the ore to be separated is'required or rendered necessary.

Theimprovement, though shown in Figs. III

and IV as applied to an oreseparatingiuachine of a special construction, and for which Letters Patent have been allowed me,is also applicable to other ore concentrators or separators, and

no very special or minute reference need here y be made to the feed of the ore for travel along or over the bed, or the means for producing the current or currents of air or water,and conducting the same to the bed nor yet to the means for removing the rich ore as it is delivered from the bed. ln these views, however, which illustrate how myimproved ore-bed is or may be applied, the ore to be separated Ais represented as being delivered from a hopper onto or over the bed 5 also, the same exposed to the action of an intermittent current or currents produced by a bellows likewise the timely removal ot' the rich ore escaping through the `opening or openings in the bed as effected by a suitably constructed and operating roller be- The ore-bed itself, which constitutes theimprovement made the subject of this application, may be constructed as represented in Figs. lll, V, and VI. This bed is made up of tubes or hollow bar-like divisions c, of any suitable' shape, arranged within a suitable frame, so as to run in direction of the travel of the ore across the bed, that maybe termed the length ofthe latter, and at a proper dist-ance apart to establish passages b between them. These tubes are shown ofa reticulated. character, being made of wire-gauze or other suitable perforated material, and open at one end, as at c. rlhe width of said bed, or length transversely to the travel ofthe ore across it, is considerably in excess ofthe length of the tubes. The distance apart of the tubes a may be varied to suit different kinds of ore, but Vshould be sufiiciently close together so that air or water forced into them through theirmouths or open ends c, and escaping from or through the sides of the tubes, will readily meet in the centers of the passages b, and produce a uniform action throughout the same, no diierence of action being perceptible in the application ot' said bed to a machine when the latter is running on the surface of the ore and the stratum of rich ore lying immediately on the bed and the stratum of 1i gh ter material lying on top being of uniform thickness throughout. As the tubes c are constructed in these gures--III, V, and

VI-the air or water forced in intermittently during, for instance, the upward movement of the bellows, escapes from said tubes, to effect the separation ofthe ore on three sidesthat is, through the top and on either side.

In Working, the ore in the passages or spaces I) between the tubes is supported by resting on the column or columns of ore below, and sinks as fast as the means employed for removal effects discharge of the ore from the lower ends of the columns.

Wooden or other suitable bottoms d may be fitted within the perforated tubes a, and suitable holes made therethrough for the purpose of letting escape any tine ore that may fall through the meshes of the tubes.

In some cases, however-and it is preferred to make them so-the tubes a may be left entirely open below by dispensing with the wooden bottoms, as represent-ed in Fig. VII,

`so that any tine ore entering the tubes will tall direct on the main columns-below Without any obstruction. Nor will the ore from the passages b or main columns rise under such an open construction of the bottoms of the tubes Within the air or Water space ofthe lat-sr ter, but assume the shape or direction repre- `sented in Fig. VIII. Such open construction ot' the bottom of the tubes also admits of the air or water forced into them escaping laterally from beneath them as well as through them to act upon the ore.

One advantage, however, the closed bottom construction may have is, that the bottoms serve to stiffen and give solidity, as it were, to the tubes.

Where the tubes are leftof a freely open character at their bottoms they may7 it' desired, not he made of gauze or otherwise reiiculated, but of a close sheet construction, as shown in Figs. VIII and IX, being more or less ot' an inverted U form, in which case the air or water is caused wholly to pass laterally from beneath them, and up through the passages b between the tubes.

As a further modification of the bed, the same maybe made with an opening or passage through it for the concentrated ore to pass through, in a right-angled direction to that hereinbefore described, namely, lengthwise of the machine or across the travel of the ore over the bed, as represented in Fig. 1V, and the air or water be introduced to escape through or laterally from beneath the one or both sides of the said opening to meet in the center of, or similarly act upon, the ore in said opening', substantially as hereinbefore described, and for which purpose the air or water may be admitted for escape up from beneath the one side of said opening by a bent tube or tubes, open at both ends, and arranged below the hollow bed, as shown in said Fig. 1V.

By this my improved ore-bed I am enabled to effect a more perfect separation, and to concentrate in a shorter distance, eXpending the force employed on a greater width of orebed relatively to the travel of ore over it, instead of wastin g it over a` long ore-bed.

When drawing oit' the rich or concentrated ore in machines employing the old form of bed having a small extent of opening, tailings are drawn off with the ore when the latter is drawn off as fast as concentrated on the orebed. This is due to the too rapid sinking ot' the ore in one place; but by a bed constructed as, for instance, in Fig. V a large extent of is the facility with which the air or water reaches each side of the short columns ot' ore.

What is here claimed, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is

1. An ore-bed composed ot' tubes or hollow bars, constructed and arranged to admit of the passage within and through or out of them of a current or currents of air or water, in such manner as that said air or water in escaping therefrom will meet in the center or cross the ore passages or openings in the bed, substantially as specified.

2. An ore-bed made up of tubes of a reticulated character, having an air or water inlet or opening at their end or ends, andmade either with or without bottoms d, essentially as and for the purpose or purposes herein set forth.

S. R. KROM. Witnesses:

A. LE CLERC,

ARTHUR KINNIER. 

